Thinking
by Bella1893
Summary: Flynn Rider? Thinking? C'est impossible!


After spending years thieving for a living, suddenly being able to sleep without having be on alert was a foreign concept to Eugene. So when the guards walked past their bedroom doors at precisely 2:43am every morning, his eyes immediately snapped open, focusing in on the source of the click-clacks. At first, it annoyed him to no end, but after almost a year in the castle, Eugene had come to accept his nightly interludes.

For the first few months, he had spent this extra time getting acquainted with every nook and cranny of his new home, inside and outside. He now knew that there were seven secret entrances to the castle and a labyrinth of tunnels twisting and turning inside the walls. After a run-in with a would be thief (ironic, no?), Eugene had felt the need to enlighten the Castle Guard of a few weak spots in their defenses.

Once he got bored with that task, Eugene took to reading. Once neighboring lands had heard of the beautiful and supposedly eligible princess' return, suitors had poured in from fair and wide. While Rupunzel enjoyed their many attempts to impress her, the men's extravagant gifts and gestures worried Eugene. What if she found one of them more capable, more dashing, more, dare he say it, manly? After spending a couple days in an absolute state of panic, Rapunzel had sat him down and set him strait. Her words that day had soothed his fears, but Eugene decided he would be just as learned as his opponents. Thus began his obsession with books.

After nearly finishing the politics and history section of the royal library, Eugene began spending his late night interludes thinking. At first, he thought about the book he had recently finished or the news of the day. Once he was bored with that, he began plotting another attempt to convince Rapunzel to marry him. He got really good at those.

Once she finally agreed and they married, Eugene found his attentions drawn to the woman resting on his chest. He had hoped that moving to a new chamber would put an end to his interrupted sleep, but instead he found the click-clacks had moved from 2:43 to 1:26 with an additional walk by at 4:33. Instead of mourning the loss of sleep, Eugene praised whatever gods that be for the extra time to stare at his beautiful wife.

Lifting his eyes to her face, Eugene smiled as we brushed her hair from her face. Her chocolate locks were beginning to show a golden tint after her many hours spent around the kingdom. After many meetings with the royal hairdresser, Rapunzel had agreed to grow her hair out for the wedding. Although she complained, Eugene knew she loved having hair to play with again. Dropping his gaze, he looked over her delicate features: the dusting of freckles across her nose, the arch of her brows, the slight parting of her petal pick lips.

She was so beautiful.

Rapunzel's soft skin glowed in the moonlight. Tracing one finger over the curve of her bare shoulder and down her arm, Eugene smirked, remembering the evenings earlier entertainment. While a part of him wished those obnoxious suitors could see how amazing she truly was, a bigger part of him wanted to keep her tucked away, protected from their wanting glazes.

With that thought, his hand froze.

God, he sounded like Gothel.

Deciding that was enough thinking for tonight, Eugene let out a exasperated sigh, letting his his head lay back against his pillow.

"Done already?"

Eyes snapping open, the former thief looked down to where the soft voice had come from, meeting a pair of emerald eyes.

He stuttered, "I have no idea what you mean."

She laughed, propping herself up on one elbow to get a better look at him.

"Don't you dare lie to me, Flynn Rider," Rapunzel quipped, noting the pink flush and slight flicker of his eyes when she spoke to him. "Every night you wake up when the guards walk by then stay up for at least twenty minutes before falling asleep again. Care to explain?"

Damn. He hadn't realized she was even awake. He was losing his touch.

"I was thinking," he said, grinning at the use of his old alias.

"Thinking?" she exclaimed, a look of astonishment crossing her fake, a mischievous glint to her eyes. "I wasn't aware you knew what that was."

Eugene let out a low laugh. She was never going to let him live down his dashing playboy act, was she? Before Rapunzel realized she had been had, he flipped her onto her back, pinning her to the bed. Noting the slightly startled look on her face, he leaned in close.

"I'll have you know, Blondie, that I am quite adept at thinking. How else was I able to steal that pretty little crown of yours, evade capture, and climb all the way up your tower? Hm?" Punctuating his question with a soft kiss to her neck, Eugene pulled back just enough to meet her eyes.

Instead of being weak-need and wanting, he found her attemping to contain her giggles.

"What?"

Somehow, his question broke the dam and her laughter spilled forth, filling their bed room. Realizing he had lost the upper hand, Eugene rolled off her, pouting.

"I'm sorry," she said minutes later after finally calming down. "I just was thinking of our first encounter, when I hit you with that frying pan."

Eyes smoldering, he turned to her. "I'm pretty sure I still have bruises from that."

Giggling, Rapunzel crawled up and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. "You'll be alright," she said. "I thought I made up for that when I got you a castle?"

"Ah, that you did, Princess," Eugene drawled, wrapping his arms around her. "That you did"

Minutes later, after watching her slip into dreamland, Eugene found himself thinking again. This time, he thought of Mother Gothel and her desires to keep Rapunzel locked up forever. The woman was crazy, yes, but for some reason, Eugene felt some amount of gratitude for the witch. If she hadn't hidden Blondie away, he never would have met her. He never would have stolen the crown then escaped into the woods, finding her tower and being detained by her hair, giving her the opportunity to blackmail him into taking her to see the lights, while on the way having several adventures that would eventually lead to him falling head over heals in love-

His inner monologue interrupted by a monstrous yawn, Eugene decided yes, he was thankful for Gothel's madness, but he sure as hell wasn't ever admitting that out loud. He knew where Rapunzel kept her frying pans.


End file.
